THE NATION
Cajoled by fake promises of high-paying professional jobs in Ghana, teenage girls and young men from Nigeria have continuously fallen prey to traffickers disguising as ‘agents’. Once in Ghana, the young men find themselves trapped as criminal gang members involved in nefarious activities while teenage girls are forced to meet daily ‘prostitution’ targets, ALAO ABIODUN writes.
When 17-year-old Precious Beatrice (not real names) left the shores of Nigeria for Ghana with the promise of enticing and alluring offers, she had no inkling she would be warming the beds of strangers for a meager fee.
Despite the intensified efforts to curb and tackle human trafficking and most importantly, the global commitments to eliminate human trafficking by 2030, the challenge remains huge.
For Precious, her post-recovery phase after her rescue by authorities has been plagued with emotional and physical, challenges. She’s being haunted by her terrible experience.
Her encounter with her traffickers began two years ago when she was referred to an ‘agent’ who promised to connect her and some other girls with someone in Ghana to get her a high-paying job which could change her life and free her from her predicament.
Precious’ story is sad but not unusual. The “enticing job offer” gimmick is a usual recruitment tactic used to traffic women for sexual exploitation.
The events that followed the boat trip from Nigeria to Ghana through the coastline were both dreadful and tragic. Precious and other survivors said the transport experience was life-threatening with no safety for their lives, especially the absence of life jackets while on water trip.
Precious was able to make it to the final destination, but she recounted how some victims were made to board rickety boats, encountering stormy weather conditions which constitute serious hazard to human lives.
As Precious was going deep into her story, her voice trembled in reflection of the agony she went through. The abuse she endured is the common fate of many Nigerian girls who go to Ghana illegally, especially teenagers.
Other survivors said they fell prey to trafficking by trusting known persons (agents). They lamented that their desperation to seek greener pastures were exploited by the traffickers who made mouth-watering promises of high-paying jobs.
Twenty-one years since the Palermo Protocol was adopted as a global mobilisation tool to combat human trafficking, West Africa has long been characterised by high levels of intra and extra-regional migration.
The West African region is recognised to produce some of the highest numbers of trafficking victims in destination countries outside Africa, especially in Europe and the Middle East.
Nigeria, in 2015, enacted the Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Enforcement and Administration Act, which outlawed all acts of human trafficking in the country.
The Act prescribes five to 10 years imprisonment and a fine of N1 million for the trafficking of children, depending on the purpose of such trafficking.
For Ghana, the government increased anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts. The 2005 Human Trafficking Act, amended in 2009, criminalised sex and labour trafficking.
The Human Trafficking Act prescribed penalties of a minimum of five years’ imprisonment, which were sufficiently stringent and, with respect to sex trafficking, commensurate with those prescribed for other grave crimes, such as rape.
However, the 2015 regulations for this Act, which are non-discretionary and have the force of law, provided specific guidance on sentencing depending on the circumstances. In general, the term is not less than five years’ imprisonment and not more than 25 years. But if a parent, guardian or other persons with parental responsibilities facilitates or engages in trafficking, they are liable to a fine, five to 10 years imprisonment or both.
Checks by our correspondent revealed that the Elubo Central Command Border Post is the main border crossing along western border of Ghana with Cote d’Ivoire. However, there are a number of unapproved routes along the border that people use to cross illegally, including a river.
The main border post along Ghana’s eastern border is at Aflao, which is located directly across the border from Togo. There are a number of unapproved border crossings north of Aflao used by human traffickers to cross over to Togo.
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